Kodak employment continues to shrink

Eastman Kodak Co.’s local workforce dropped to 2,300 employees in 2013, down from 3,429 a year ago. The decrease included workers that transferred to companies that obtained Kodak businesses, including Kodak Alaris.

The company detailed its year-end 2013 employment Wednesday when it reported its year-end financial results. The company reported 8,800 worldwide workers, but that will shrink by 800 non-U.S. employees slated to be transferred in 2014 to Kodak Alaris. The company has 3,600 U.S. workers.

The 33 percent drop puts the region's longtime top employer at No. 12, according to the Rochester Business Journal's most recent list of private-sector employers. Kodak's local employment peaked at 60,400 in 1982. It lost its status as the region's top private-sector employer in the middle of the last decade.

Kodak reported a net loss of $63 million in the fourth quarter, down from $402 million a year ago. The report released Wednesday after the market closed reflects the first full quarter of results since the company emerged Sept. 3 from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. See the story on the year-end results here.